Why Charging Your Electric Car at Night Could Save the World

Electric cars won’t tax grid if they charge at off-peak times Adding EVs to peak power demand reduces environmental benefits It’ll take more than just driving an electric vehicle to save the environment. You’ll have to charge it at the right time, too. Put simply, if the world’s drivers plug in an increasingly large EV fleet right after work, it could undo many of the environmental benefits expected from fewer cars running on gasoline and diesel. Cutting pollution could come down to an act as unexceptional as waiting until bedtime to charge the minivan. Down one path lies a future world with cleaner skies, cheaper energy and more reliable electricity systems. The other has more fossil fuel-burning generators, higher power prices and additional strain on the grids keeping lights on everywhere from hospitals to schools. “The key question isn’t how much demand electric vehicles add to the grid, it’s […]